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Double Bass My Pops is hard

#81
So if your Pops ain't poppin, how about picking up a baseball pitcher's rosin bag and flip it around in your hand a couple times (just like Roger Clemens!)? I bet that sticky stuff makes for some earth-shaking pizzicato.

The career discussion reminds me of the old joke: What do you call a musician without a girlfriend (boyfriend, whatever)? --Homeless.

Roger
 
#82
ee-san said:
So if your Pops ain't poppin, how about picking up a baseball pitcher's rosin bag and flip it around in your hand a couple times (just like Roger Clemens!)? I bet that sticky stuff makes for some earth-shaking pizzicato...snip...
Click to expand...

...and a sure receipe for blisters.

That's why you got to be careful when you play arco to bow well bellow the end of the fb, not only it's good for the sound but also it prevents extra friction between fingers and strings when you're pizzicating.

But have you tried pitcher rosin on the bow ?
 
#83
ee-san said:
So if your Pops ain't poppin, how about picking up a baseball pitcher's rosin bag and flip it around in your hand a couple times (just like Roger Clemens!)? I bet that sticky stuff makes for some earth-shaking pizzicato.

The career discussion reminds me of the old joke: What do you call a musician without a girlfriend (boyfriend, whatever)? --Homeless.

Roger
Click to expand...
Precisely.
 
#84
If a person decides "I am gonna be a free lance bass player -" he better be relatively oblivious to the consequences, sometimes. It's not a job for the faint hearted. But whatever experience you glean from it will make you a better musician - I think. Be what God intended you to be, no matter what. Sometimes it''s good, sometimes it ain't so good! Would you quit?

Freedom is "making the break." And there's nothing quite like it. Freedom is the most exhilarating feeling in the world.
 
#85
matt macgown said:
Some of our gigs on the Maine coast netted us $30.00 and a bottle of champagne apiece; that coupled with a sea food dinner cooked at the beach, free put ups at a sailors house, helped to take away the sting of low pay. See if y' can work in some perks! Cuz you never get rich off a bass fiddle.
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I was poo-pooing a gig we had been offered to play at Round Table Pizza for $50 (split 3 ways). The piano player looked at me and said, "Well, salad-bar is included."
 
#86
That's cute. But that's the way lots of people regard musicians, isn't it. When I was doing free lance circuits, churches, etc., I never figured it to be worth my time to put the bass in the case for less than $100 plus a sandwich locally. And A road trip that didn't offer $300 to $500 was likewise useless, - plus the motel. That was early 80's to mid 90's, and it looks like things may have deteriorated.

Never become a local! Bad for the pockets. Always travel!

A musician that is willing to work at those low prices more or less dooms himself, I guess. And you have to work very hard to maintain the skill level in order to "command" a decent price.

I figured that even though my education was not mainly in music, I'd still be competing with other players at the masters in performance level, and that probably still holds. It's a rule of thumb for me. Takes some work.

If I couldn't get a smackeroo for taking my bass out, now, I wouldn't even bother. Just my 'druthers.
 
#87
olivier said:
...and a sure receipe for blisters.

That's why you got to be careful when you play arco to bow well bellow the end of the fb, not only it's good for the sound but also it prevents extra friction between fingers and strings when you're pizzicating.

But have you tried pitcher rosin on the bow ?
Click to expand...

I was just joking about the pitcher's rosin, so don't try this at home. I haven't been inclined to try it in a bow given all the actual bow rosins available.

R
 
#88
My experience has been a little different from PATT MaGROIN's...I've done better as a "local" than as a road player when it comes to the income. Though most of it wasn't by design, I found myself living in a tourism-driven economy that can provide a nice income over a long period of time (twenty years, in my case). I still hit the road once in awhile for a quickie, but it can actually be counterproductive, because somebody else needs to jump into the local gigs while I'm gone, which makes me nervous ;) .

I can't say that this experience is the rule or that I recommend it, because it seems the success rate for "local" players is pretty low. But it can be an option. And in my case, it's the only option at this point, given the wife, two kids, house, two cars, cats, etc., that all look to me to hang around at least part of the time. I'm the Ward Cleaver of the DB.
 
#90
Well, I just got a container of Pops- I hesitate to call it a "cake" because it is just barely solid.

At any rate I think i pretty much hate it. Either that or the Spirocores I just put on the bass. Or perhaps both. All I know is i'm not digging it.
 
#92
I tried another bow recently that is much better than the piece of crap I'm using now. It was MUCH easier to bow with the better bow. My main bow (comes with the rental bass) is a synthetic nylon hair bow and the good one was a wood bow with real hair. So I guess the quality of the bow/hair has a lot to do with it, probably more so than the rosin, I suspect. I would go ahead and just pick up one of the $150 jobs from (AH) Bob G but I'm waiting just in case the bass I eventually buy comes with a bow.

-Scot

BTW - I'm curious about where the "all hail" thing came from.
 
#93
I believe "All Hail" comes from the many great experiences peops on this forum have had with Bob G. We all worship him in some way. :)

BTW: You won't go wrong with buying one of Bob G's brazilwood bows. I believe some the guys here are using them as backup bows too, plus Glenn thought it was fine for the job and was a heckuva deal. In any case, unless you happen to buy used or something, I doubt if a bass you buy will come with a bow since it seems that you're going to plunk down some dinero for a decent bass in your previous posts, dontcha think? I mean, if you buy a nice bass, why not spend the time finding a really nice bow for several hundred $$$. In the meantime, one of the brazilwood bows might serve you well.
 
#94
Yeah, I figured the "all hail" thing was a general respect thing but thought there might be an inside joke about it too.

You're right, I am going to plop down some serious dough for the right bass but serveral I've been looking at do mention a bow and/or other accessories being included with the purchase of the bass. This includes a couple of old German basses. But you are correct that most do not. Things are going to be tight and I'm going to need to get a bag and pickup system too so I'm just waiting just in case any accessories do happen to be included. Also, Glenn hasn't got me on the bow yet so it's not a deal breaker to not have the bow right now and the one I have is working OK.

-Scot
 
#97
hdiddy said:
And don't forget, you have to budget for an amp/cab if you don't already have one. Man, nobody told me it gets this expensive! :crying:
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I'm hoping I'm good with what I have for my BG setup. I have a Bergantino HT112 and EX112 and an SWR SM-900. The bergies are both 1-12" cabs and the word is they sound good with DB. The SM-900 is prolly a little overkill but I figure I should be good with the HT112 and the amp.

-Scot
 

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